A brother asked Abba Rufus, “What is stillness, and what is its benefit?” The elder said, “Stillness is to sit in the cell with fear and knowledge of God, keeping away from remembering injuries and from pride. This stillness, because it is the mother of all virtues, guards the monk from the enemy’s fiery arrows and does not allow him to be wounded by them. Therefore, brother, acquire it, remembering your departure in death, for you do not know at what hour the thief will come. From now on, keep watch over your soul.”
Abba Rufus said, “The one who remains in obedience to a spiritual father has a greater reward laid up than one who withdraws to the desert by his own will.” He also told this story from one of the Fathers: “I saw four ranks in heaven. The first was a man who was sick and gave thanks to God. The second was one who practiced hospitality and stood serving in that work. The third was one who pursued the solitary life and saw no one. The fourth was a man who lived in obedience to a father and was subject to him for the Lord’s sake. The one who lived in obedience wore a golden necklace and carried a shield, and he shone with greater glory than the others. I said to the one guiding me, ‘Why has this one, who is the least, received greater glory than the others?’ He answered, ‘The one who practices hospitality does so by his own will. Likewise, the one who lives in the desert withdrew by his own will. But the one who has obedience abandoned all his own wills and depends on God and on his father. For this reason he received greater glory than the others.’ Therefore, children, obedience undertaken for the Lord’s sake is good. You have learned, at least in part, a small trace of this virtue. O obedience, salvation of all the faithful! O obedience, mother of all virtues! O obedience, discoverer of the kingdom! O obedience, which opens the heavens and raises people from earth! O obedience, nourisher of all the saints, from whose milk they drank and through which they became perfect! O obedience, companion of the angels!”